A pregame ceremony was held to honor the memory of the victims in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
Connecticut's Ryan Boatright, left, drives past Maryland Eastern Shore's Louis Bell during the first half Monday in Hartford.
HARTFORD – Freshman Omar Calhoun scored a season-high 22 points and Ryan Boatright had 21 to lead Connecticut to an 84-50 victory over winless Maryland-Eastern Shore on Monday night at the XL Center.
It was UConn's first game since 20 students and six adults were killed Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, and a pre-game ceremony was held to honor their memory.
As a tribute to the victims, UConn players wore green "SH" patches on the front of their white jerseys and some wrote messages on their sneakers and socks. Boatright wrote "SH" on his left cheek.
"We just wanted to make sure we came out here and put on a good show for the crowd and stick together as a team, and play for everybody that was in that tragedy," Calhoun said.
Calhoun and Boatright combined to score 15 of UConn's first 17 points in the second half. UConn went on a 15-0 run, capped by Boatright's steal and dunk that pushed to lead to 65-33 with 11:44 remaining.
The Huskies (8-2) shot a season-high 66 percent from the field (33 of 50) and were 10 of 19 from 3-point range.
Louis Bell scored 12 points and Ron Spencer had 11 and eight rebounds for the Hawks (0-10), who played without point guard Kyree Jones, the team's leading scorer. He was bothered by a sore back, according to coach Frankie Allen.
UConn's guards took advantage with superior perimeter shooting. Calhoun and Boatright combined to shoot 16 of 21 and made 8 of 10 3-point attempts.
"Omar and Ryan have been doing extra work," UConn coach Kevin Ollie said. "Our guards have been doing extra work. I know it's ball movement, but you still have to make the shot."
DeAndre Daniels scored 13 points and Shabazz Napier had 11 points and eight assists for the Huskies.
Bell wrote "S.H.E.S. Newtown, CT" and "12-14-12" – the date of the incident – on the back of each sneaker.
"Man, it was heartbreaking just to know what happened to those kids," Boatright said, adding he and Daniels have been watching the news all week. "I got two baby sisters that I've just seen that are the exact same age as the kids at the elementary school. It was a humbling experience and all my prayers go out to all the families."
UConn players attended a vigil on campus Sunday night. Ollie said the team will plan to visit Newtown at some point in the future.
"We're going to go down there and have a good practice or whatever they want us to do," he said. "We're going to be available for them and hopefully bring a smile or two to their faces."
Maryland-Eastern Shore had a 30-26 rebounding advantage but shot just 38.5 percent.
Boatright scored 13 points in the first half and UConn shot 62.5 percent to take a 39-27 lead.